News Archive 2008 2009 2007
Irish Open 2008
Congratulations to all the Galway members who took part in the recent Irish Open Championships held in Dublin. Competitors from all over Ireland (North & South), England & Wales competed for the honours on the day.
Galway Medal Winners as follows:
- Krzystof Misiewicz – Gold (Patterns), Gold (Power) (Overall Irish Senior Champion 2008)
- Therese McGrath – Silver (Patterns), Gold (Sparring)
- Emma Kirk – Bronze (Patterns)
- Padraic Carter – Silver (Patterns), Gold (Sparring)
- Rafal Aksamit – Gold (Patterns), Silver (Sparring)
- PJ Flaherty – Gold (Patterns)
- Sean Herriott – Silver (Patterns)
- Catherine Higgins – Bronze (Patterns)
- James Arrigan – Bronze (Patterns)
Team Total: 6 Gold, 4 Silver, 3 Bronze & 1 Overall Title.
For full results listing, please visit the RITA website.
Click here for videos - Seniors
Click here for videos - Juniors
Click here for photos - Juniors
St. Mark’s Team Challenge
Congratulations to the Galway members who took part in the recent Team Challenge hosted by our friends in St Mark’s Taekwon-Do School. Therese, Antoinette, and Rafal took part on the day, and competed well to take Bronze in the adult team sparring section. Mr O’Donnell represented the school as Senior Umpire on the day.
It was, as always, a most enjoyable day and a big ‘thank you’ to Ms Valerie Keane, Mr Floyd Keane, and all the members of St Marks for hosting another great event.
2008 Munster Open
A very big congratulations to all the members who represented our school at the recent Munster Open Championships in held in Clonmel.
Well done to all the Galway team:
- Sarah Kirk
- Emma Kirk (Gold – Patterns)
- Padraic Carter (Silver - Sparring, Silver – Patterns)
- Paul Curran (Bronze – Patterns, Silver – Sparring)
- Therese McGrath (Gold – Sparring, Silver – Patterns)
- Rafal Aksamit (Gold – Patterns, Gold Sparring)
- Patrick Flaherty (Gold – Patterns)
- Ciaran Flatley (Silver – Patterns)
- Sean Herriott (Bronze – Patterns)
Team Total: 5 Gold, 5 Silver, 2 Bronze.
Next tournament will be the Irish Open, on December 6th in Dublin
Grading Results
Congratulations to the Galway members who were promoted at the recent grading:
- Promoted to 1st Kup: Therese McGrath, Sarah Kirk.
- Promoted to 6th Kup (O+): Rafal Aksamit.
- Promoted to 8th Kup: PJ Flaherty, Ciaran Flatley, Peter Beachy, Kyle Walsh, Sean Herriott, Robin Negus.
- Promoted to 9th Kup: Pawel Mielecki.
The 2008 Leinster Open
Well done to the members from Galway who took part in the recent Leinster Open in Dublin.
Although we had a smaller number of competitors than usual,
we still got some excellent results.
Congratulations in particular to Padraic Carter who put in a great performance to win Gold
in sparring and gold in Power, as well as bronze in Patterns.
Well done also to Rafal Aksamit who won bronze in Patterns.
Full list of results available on the RITA website.
2008 European Championships – Croatia
Congratulations to Mr Martin Mahoney from Galway who represented Ireland at the 23rd Senior and 14th Junior European Championships in Croatia recently.
Mr Mahoney had a tough draw in the - 64kg sparring. 
After dropping from his normal -71kg section he drew the Ukrainian World Champion in the 1st round. In a competitive spar the Ukrainian’s experience gave him the edge and Mr Mahoney lost out.
In the power event he came 10th which was a very creditable result.
Congratulations to Mr David Freeman from Dublin who secured a silver medal for Ireland in the -57kg sparring event.
With 700 representatives from 31 countries this was the largest European Championships so far and the competition was of a very high standard.
The next European Championships will be held in Slovenia during April 2009 and for the first time will have a Veterans division.
To view full results from the Championship, visit the official EITF website: http://eitf.taekwondo.cz
The 2008 Connacht Open
Congratulations & well done to everyone who took part in the recent Connacht Open Championships held in Galway.
The Galway Taekwon-Do School would like to extend sincere thanks to all the students,
instructors & umpires from around the country who supported the event.
UKTA Today Magazine
The RITA is proud to announce that it will be now publishing its articles in its sister association’s magazine (UKTA Today).
This high quality magazine features articles based on the ITF Taekwon-Do that we all know and love. Some of the highlights of the magazine are: Articles on the RITA and its members, Great Taekwon-Do photographs, Technical explanation of different aspects of Taekwon-Do, such as patterns and power – which will really benefit all students, Many RITA students compete in the UKTA’s tournaments and may appear in the action shots, Articles and photos of our Pioneer Grand Master Rhee, It contains many articles on our Taekwon-Do friends in the UK.
It is a quarterly publication and will be on sale by the RITA for €20 per year. Subscription orders for 2009 (four issues) may be made at class on or before Wednesday 26th November. If anyone is interested, previous issues of the magazine are available for you to view at class.
International Seminar
Pictured at the recent historic ITF International Seminar in Dublin (the first ever to be conducted by an Irish Master): PJ Flaherty, Mr O’Donnell, Ciaran Flatley, Seated: Master Robert Howard VII, Senior Master Barrett VIII, and Master George Vitali VII (USA).
Grading Results
Congratulations to the Galway members (pictured with Examiners, Master Howard VII and Mr O’Donnell VI) who were promoted to 9th Kup at the recent grading in Athlone:
Ciaran Flatley (O+), P.J. Flaherty (O+), Stephanie Anderson, Kyle Walsh, Jade Walsh, Colin Prendergast , Sean Herriott, Robin Negus, Michael Healy, Peter Beachy.
Recent Grading
Congratulations to the members of the Junior Class (pictured above with Mr & Ms O’Donnell) who were promoted to 9th Kup at the recent grading. Well done also to the other members who were successfully promoted: Paul Curran & Padraic Carter (5th Kup), Rafal Aksamit (7th Kup).
